Where to Spend Your Money

If you’ve read Planning Your Thru-Hike of the John Muir Trail you know about the gear triangle. For those who haven’t (you haven’t?!), the gear triangle is a graphic representation of this principle: when it comes to backpacking gear, you can get it light, comfortable, or cheap; pick any two.

If you are a more affluent hiker (or if you are of a certain age, the kids are grown, you’ve downsized, and there are more discretionary funds available), you may want to go expensive and light across the board, from your shelter system to your titanium spork, which is a quarter of an ounce lighter than the plastic one.

Many of us, however, have to choose our battles a little more carefully. Here are some rules to follow:

1. Don’t skimp on footwear. A good pair of boots or trail runners, durable enough to go the distance, and fitted well enough to keep your feet in good shape, are worth any price. Even if you have to buy a second pair (if the first doesn’t work out), it’s money well spent.

2. Go for the very best stuff in two circumstances: when the extra cost will save you a significant amount of weight, or if the expensive stuff is just relatively expensive. (For example, a plastic cup might weigh 4 ounces and cost $5 while a titanium cup weighs 2 ounces and cost $30. True, it’s only 2 ounces saved at six times the cost, but it’s also true that it’s only an extra $25.)

The premium you spend on your tent, pad, sleeping bag, backpack, and bear canister could mean a huge difference in your base weight. Going for strictly the top-of-the-line when it comes to trekking poles, camp stoves, a water purification system, and clothes will add up (subtract down?) at a much slower pace.

3. Spend the extra money if it means you can buy one thing to replace two (or more) things. I carried an e-reader, GPS, and cell phone on my last thru-hike. Next time I may bring one device with the functionality of all three. Sleeping quilts can be found (to replace sleeping bags) that can double as coats to wear while sitting around the campsite. The right sleeping pad can provide comfort at night and stability to your backpack during the day.

4. Consider making it yourself. The make-your-own-gear (MYOG) movement has been going strong for years, and, with a little effort, can be a great way to carry the lightest-of-the-light, custom made for you, at much less expense.

If you want to go light, you are going to have to spend some money. But choosing your targets carefully will mean that for every dollar spent you eliminate the most weight.

14 Comments

geekgirlJuly 22, 2014 at 8:56 am

Excellent post. It’s easy to get wrapped up in ounces that may cost a significant amount of money, and not save you that much in the end. Just being aware of what you are really spending, and what you are getting for it, is very helpful. Particularly when you keep sight of the big picture, and not getting bogged down in individual items.

I came to a point where I needed a new tent. I looked at a gorgeous cuben fiber shelter, and was going to get it, until I started adding everything up. The cuben fiber shelter, with an inner bug tent, and everything else I needed was going to cost me over $500 and would weigh 22 ounces. A Tarptent Contrail cost only $200, and weighs 27 ounces. I ended up going for the Contrail, as I don’t think those 5 ounces was worth $300. With the $300 I saved, I was able to make my own quilt, which saved me 8 ounces off my sleeping bag, and got a different backpack which saved me another 9 ounces. A much better tradeoff and I came out lighter.

Sometimes, cheaper items can be much lighter than the expensive stuff. A sawyer squeeze filter weighs 3 ounces and costs $30, vs. a Katadyn pocket filter which costs $360 and weighs 20 ounces. It seems to me that the simpler products tend to weigh less and cost significantly less than the “newest, greatest, all the bells and whistles” products.

Actually just made the pattern myself, although I have seen some on backpackinglight. A quilt is far easier than a sleeping bag, and you have the option of either down or climashield apex, (I choose the climashield apex, as down is just too messy for me). Got all the materials on thru-hiker.com

I had previously made a down quilt, and for someone like me, (all thumbs) it was a huge undertaking and didn’t come out as well as I had hoped. For this quilt, I didn’t want to worry about the down, and I did want something that could stand up to a bit of moisture, (down is horrible when wet, and takes forever to dry) so I decided to go synthetic.

I used momentum 50 and 90 for the interior and exterior, and 5 oz. climashield apex for the fill. I cut the quilt specifically to fit my measurements, and the way I sleep, and it ended up weighing 17.5oz. Significantly cheaper than a down version, and fits my needs well. I ended up giving the down quilt to someone else, as I really prefer the synthetic.

Ray
I always enjoy your posts and find them useful. I am a huge proponent of the “gear triangle”. However, I’m curious what your solution is to your post – ” I carried an e-reader, GPS, and cell phone on my last thru-hike. Next time I may bring one device with the functionality of all three.” I own an iPhone 5s – the folks at Apple and REI tell me that the iPhone can’t operate as a true GPS since it requires cell tower signial (not avail on the JMT). How do you combine, the ereader, phone and GPS?
Thanks and “Happy Trails”!!!

That’s an interesting comment about your iPhone, Steve. I had been told that the GPS would work, but that you would have to pre-download the maps (because there would be no cell service to download the data). I know there is at least one JMT “app” out there that supposedly takes advantage of that.

The iPhone 5 should have full GPS capabilities. I know of multiple people on backpackinglight.com who use the iphone with GaiaGPS I think it is without any problems. Apparently according to Google Fu starting with the 4S the iPhones even support GLONASS.

Most cellphones use the cell radio to triangulate your approximate location and then use GPS to refine that. The practical effect is that it takes like 10 seconds to lock into your location, even when you’ve moved a *long* way from your last location. If you’ve ever booted up a dedicated GPS unit a couple hundred miles away from where you last had it on, you know it can take a while to get a lock on where you are. The cell towers help speed that up since all of those are in known locations.

Apple was covering it’s ass because you need to use a dedicated app that downloads the maps to your phone, and that takes space and usually costs money for the app. I know that the Delorme maps that I downloaded with my InReach took up almost a gig of space for example. You could quickly fill your phone up.

However, if you want to test this, find a GPS program on the app store that doesn’t require online maps, set your phone to airplane mode, and check it out. You should still get a lock. It might take a little longer initially but it should work fine.